Experimental, Unique, Individual: SEM Fashion Trends Spring 2023
By Sasha W.
These are just a few of the words that students at SEM used to describe fashion. Trends go in and out so quickly, and that makes it difficult to find a balance between following those trends and keeping your style unique. One student said it particularly well, “you need to dress for yourself. If you like something, just wear it. It doesn’t matter if you’re wearing it to school or prom or anywhere.”
Everyone has different opinions on what styles are good or bad, so it’s impossible for everyone to like one specific style. Beanies – 11 students; cargo – 10; leather – eight; corsets – seven; loafers – five; crochet/knitted clothing – four, the list goes on. There are so many things that can change fashion in a specific time:, the weather, the area you live in, even movies, songs, and so much more. Some specific things in the media that had a huge effect on fashion this past year include shows like Emily In Paris, Bridgerton, and Stranger Things; movies like Don’t Worry Darling, Blonde, and Elvis; plus celebrities or influencers like Emma Chamberlain, Bella Hadid, the Kardashians, Rihanna, Harry Styles, and more. All of this demonstrates how much can vary year to year.
In fact, most trends end up resurfacing. Typically, trends tend to come back every 20 years (currentboutique.com). Some examples from the past year are the return of low rise jeans, platform shoes, cutouts, and even certain brands such as Dr. Martens. This just goes to show that you shouldn’t only wear styles that are popular or trendy, you should wear what you like and what makes you feel good, because chances are that style or item is going to become popular again.
However, if you feel like you really need a different change of wardrobe, don’t just throw it away. In America alone, it is estimated that 11.3 million tons of textile waste end up in landfills every year, 2,150 clothing items per second (earth.org). So in the past couple minutes or so that you have been reading this article, about 250,000 clothing items have ended up in landfills. The “throwaway culture” has gotten significantly worse over the past few years. This is mainly due to an increase in the fast fashion industry, where the clothing is either cheaply made and falls apart or it just goes out of style and the owner doesn’t like it anymore.
This all goes to show why buying sustainable clothes that we actually enjoy is so important. We can donate clothes to local thrift stores and we can buy clothing from thrift stores to help limit our own waste. There are many local stores that we can shop at including Goodwill, Paloma Exchange, Savers, Amvets, and Salvation Army. SEM even offers community service at Goodwill where we can help a good cause. If we don’t make a change in the way the fast fashion industry is going right now, the negative impact will continue to grow.
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